Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-09-26

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Doctors tell us that we can get all the vitamins we need from having a healthy diet. Despite this advice, some people continue to spend large sums of money on vitamin pills.

Why do you think some people spend a lot of money on vitamin pills?

How could people be persuaded to improve their diet instead of buying vitamin pills?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

In this contemporary world, most of the people are observed to consume various vitamin supplements additional to the regular diet.

This is commonly seen in the younger working generation consisting of 24 to 30 years age group. The main factor is the unhealthy diet such as consuming fast foods and carbonated drinks.

Younger people tend to get influenced by the aromatic nature of the local fast food items and this results in obesity at a young age. These fastfoods such as burgers and pizzas are nothing but a mixture of unhealthy fat which upon consumption can lead to severe health related problems. A recent survey demonstrated that the younger generation are more prone to early heart attacks rather than the elderly ones.

Furthermore, even a person consuming healthy diet at irregular times could have detrimental effects on physical health. Lack of physical exercises is another contributor to early death.

The reason why most of the people skip a healthy diet is due to the improper working hours at the job which results in the consumption of supplements to cope with the missing vitamin intake from food items.

Doctors can provide alternative methods rather than prescribing vitamin tablets to their patients.

One such can be the regular exposure to early morning sunrise which boosts the amount of vitamin D in our body naturally. Intake of fruits and vegetables alternative to burgers and pizzas will be beneficial and improve the immune system. People can highlight the importance of a healthy diet on the platforms of social media.

In my perspective, I believe that a change is necessary on the way food is consumed nowadays. In my own experience, my eyesight improved by including carrots regularly in my diet rather than adopting to the use of vitamin supplements.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt, exploring reasons why people spend money on vitamin pills—such as unhealthy diets, fast food consumption, and irregular working hours—and suggesting persuasion methods like natural sunlight exposure, better diets, and social media campaigns. However, the development of ideas is somewhat disjointed and fragmented. For instance, the discussion on fast food and obesity does not fully tie back to why people buy pills instead of fixing their diet, drifting slightly into a general discussion of health problems. The conclusion introduces a personal anecdote which adds a nice touch, but overall the ideas could be extended more cohesively. The response meets the task requirements by addressing both questions, earning a solid Band 6.0.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response features an overall arrangement of ideas, but the logical progression is at times difficult to follow. Paragraphs tend to be short, disconnected single-sentence blocks or very brief paragraphs (e.g., 'Doctors can provide alternative methods...'), which disrupts the flow of argumentation. Cohesive devices are used sparingly and sometimes mechanically. For example, 'Furthermore' is used to introduce another health point, but the transition between the discussion of youth diets, work hours, and doctors' recommendations lacks smooth signposting. Referencing is generally clear, but paragraphing needs better integration and logical sequencing to reach a higher band. This corresponds to a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The student displays an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'contemporary world', 'carbonated drinks', 'obesity', and 'immune system'. However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'adopting to the use of vitamin supplements' instead of 'adapting to' or 'turning to', and 'consumption of supplements to cope with the missing vitamin intake'. Less common lexical items are attempted, but they occasionally sound unnatural. Spelling is generally accurate, but the limitations in lexical precision and occasional awkward phrasing keep this criterion at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar. Examples of complex structures include 'Younger people tend to get influenced by...' and 'The reason why most of the people skip a healthy diet is due to...'. However, there are frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, such as 'most of the people are observed to consume' (unnatural passive structure), 'additional to the regular diet' (should be 'in addition to'), and 'alternative to burgers and pizzas' where a verb phrase would be clearer. Punctuation is generally acceptable, but errors in article usage and prepositions occur throughout, placing this at a Band 5.5.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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